Ambient temperature during testing was 22 celsius (~75F). For load temperatures we ran the 32M SuperPi benchmark while idle temperatures were taken while idling in Windows without anything else running in the background.

Stock speed:

Since we have not reviewed many CPU coolers lately I decided just to take the Coolermaster Hyper412 as a comparison cpu cooler even though the size is completely different on them. The Hyper 412 is there to give you an idea how a “normal” sized cpu cooler performs.

We can here see that the Phantek cooler that is 3 times smaller only runs 5 degrees hotter during load compared vs the Hyper 412.

Overclocked:

When boosting the multiplier a bit and raising the cpu with 300MHz and 0,2V on the vCore, we can see that the Hyper 412 performs even better and the Phantek cooler still performs decent for its size and noise level.

Clearly bigger cpu coolers are required when you overclock.

Unpacking:

Conclusion:

This is an excellent HTPC cooler but not something that can replace your ordinary cpu cooler for your stationary computer.

The performance and noise ratio is pretty good, what I miss is some kind of voltage regulator or fan controller to lower the speed of the fan. At its current state it is ok but lowering the RPM would make the cpu cooler a much more viable cpu cooler even in low noise HTPC rigs.

Otherwise I am happy with it, it was easy to install and it definitely has potential if you have a voltage regulator.